A French lorry driver who was found with a loaded firearm in his vehicle at Dover has been sent to prison.

Stephane Weber, 37, from Lavans les Dole, France was sentenced to 16 months at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday after previously pleading guilty to illegally importing a firearm.

Weber was stopped by Customs officers at the Inward Freight controls at Dover's Eastern Docks on October 16 driving a Belgian-registered vehicle.

After questioning Weber, officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded gun concealed beneath a pillow on the lower bunk area. A Customs firearms officer attended the scene made the gun safe and confirmed it to be of a type controlled under Section 5 of the Firearms Act.

Maria Finelli, Revenue and Customs spokeswoman for south east England, said: "HMRC is committed to stemming the flow of illegal firearms and weapons at the UK's external borders. These items clearly fuel criminality and threaten the innocent public alike. The sentence imposed in this case reflects the gravity of the offence."